Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This week I write with a few matters of business to share with you. As many of you know, we will be having Parish Town Hall Meetings this Tuesday the 21st at both 9AM and 7:30PM. I hope many will be able to join, as I would like to hear from many of you how you think this first year has gone, and I hope to be able to discuss with many of you what the future holds for our parish and how you would like to move forward in light of recent developments.
The first development is that our Director of Religious Education, Sister Mary Jane, will be retiring this coming June. After 27 years of service here, we are certainly sorry to see her go, but we are grateful for all her hard work and will continue to pray for her as she gets some well-deserved rest (Though I don’t doubt she’ll keep plenty busy even in retirement!). We will recognize her in a special way at the Noon Mass on Sunday, June 9th – the Solemnity of Pentecost. We have also been fortunate in that we have found a replacement whom I think will be an excellent fit. She is completing her time as a Catholic Elementary School principal, and is blessed with many administrative gifts as well as a profound faith. She is excited to join us here and to continue to build on the good work of Sister Mary Jane.
The second development which will have a great impact on our parish is the fact that the Sisters of St. Dominic will be leaving our convent this coming June. After many, many years, the two remaining sisters feel it is time to return to the Mother House. We cannot even begin to express our gratitude to them for all they have done for our parish and our school – they have been instrumental in imparting the faith to generation after generation of young Catholics. Therefore we also would like to celebrate them, but upon further discussion with them, we felt it better to wait until the fall when they are settled, so please keep an eye out for more information in the future!
This development in particular will be a large focus of our meeting on Tuesday. Given the availability of a great deal of new space, there are many options in regard to how we move forward in using our campus and buildings most efficiently. I have been putting out a lot of feelers to see what is possible, so I hope to present the best options I have discovered so far. I also would be glad to hear of other ideas from the parish. The more the better!
One final note. I have heard from a number of parishioners that they have been receiving text messages and emails from someone pretending to be me. Upon doing research, this is a widespread occurrence. Scammers are looking at Sunday bulletins, pulling the pastor’s name, and contacting anyone with information in the parish’s bulletin. There is little I can do as they are not actually using any information but my name. But I urge you to please report any phone numbers or email addresses that use my name falsely. I will never ask for money via these means (maybe the pulpit but that’s it!). I apologize if this has caused any inconvenience.
Yours in Christ,
Father Scolaro
